A Murder of Crows
by ShiningStarkid
Summary: Set in the not too distant future. On Meredith's first day off in months, Brian has to go out - but what will a stressed Meredith get up to when two pesky crows won't leave her alone? And what does a letter have to do with it? Breredith one-shot, originally written for an English assignment. Rated T for language.


**A/N: Hi there everybody! Sarah here. I just wanted to let you know that this was written for an assignment and our stimulus was "Flight". The idea of crows came from my mum.  
Oh, and this is dedicated to Emily (StarkidFan5689) and Beth (acciostarkids). Emily because her fanfics are fucking AMAZING (Don'tForgetTheNotes) and Beth because Breredith. :D  
****Okay, enjoy! *waves frantically***  


* * *

"You don't really believe that, do you Mere?"  
"Well I don't know, Bri…" she said, looking down, "but it's a bit…" She clenched her fists as she struggled to get the words out. "I mean, the crows keep coming back…"  
Brian sighed and looked into her brown eyes. He squeezed her hands as he cooed, "It'll be perfectly okay. No-one's going to die."  
"But… but…" she protested.  
"No buts. Now, I have to get going - love you Merebear."  
"Love you too, Holden," Meredith said as she gave him a light peck on the cheek.

"Bye," Brian called as he went out the apartment door as she watched – and proceeded to fall down the bottom two stairs. Meredith giggled loudly as he shot up and said, "I'm okay! I'm okay." Her adorable little moron would be okay without her.

Brian walked out the door of the building, as he brushed his short brown hair out of his eyes and put his helmet on. He glanced back at Meredith's sad face as she went back into the apartment. _Maybe she should come with me? No, she deserves her day off, to relieve the stress… note to self, buy roses and Reese's Pieces, _he thought as he unchained his bike – engraved with _B. Holden _- and pushed it down the street.

Meredith wanted to go with him so badly, it almost made her scream and clench her fists. She wanted just to lie in with Brian, to have that little bit of extra time in the morning just for her. But he was too busy - finding a theatre for their new Starkid production had turned into his full time job.

_No point moping, I guess, _she thought as she pulled her messy brown hair into a high ponytail. She hadn't had a day off in months, so she was not used to having free time. She had to occupy herself somehow – Bella and Sebastian had gastro, and certainly were not in any position to play Wii or bake cookies with her. But as she was making the bed – she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye.

_The fucking stupid crows are back!_ she mentally screamed. They were relentless in coming to taunt her - every day without fail. _One of your friends is next, _she could hear them cackling_. Next. Next. They're NEXT._

"SHOO!" she shouted as she rushed towards the window. "AND DON'T COME BACK!" The crows looked puzzled at her. _What the hell?_ Meredith thought. _How can a crow – oh, thank God they flew away._

Breathing a sigh of relief, she moved to the living room and turned on the television. The crows were now perched on the ledge outside the living room window.

She flicked it over to the news.  
"A man is dead after his bicycle collided with a truck at 6th and Water Street."  
Her body became rigid. _Oh my God, no, what if it's –  
_"The victim was identified as 27-year-old Brian -"  
_No, no, it can't be true. No, NO! THIS CAN'T BE FUCKING HAPPENING! _She blocked out the broadcast as she mentally considered the possibility of Brian's death. She started to cry frantically as she looked up at the television through clouded eyes.  
"A memorial service for Mr Brian Jamison will be held at-"  
_Wait a minute. Jamison? Oh my god._ She allowed the lump in her throat to escape as she caught her breath. _He's okay, as he said he would be…_

Just then, there was a knock at the door.  
"Um... just a minute!" she yelled, as she rushed to wash her face. She hadn't put on any makeup this morning, but her eyes were red and swollen from crying over Brian's supposed death. _Now that I think about it, they would've called me first…_she chastised herself mentally, thinking about how silly the circumstances were. _I probably look like shit…_

Meredith rushed to the door and opened it – but there was no-one standing there.  
_What the fuck?_ She presumed that she was pranked by the kids living in the apartment next door – it was the summer holidays and their mother had to work.

Meredith was really confused until she looked down – there was a letter addressed to _M. Stepien _sitting on the doormat. _Mailboxes were invented thousands of years ago, you know… _Her eyes widened as she saw the symbol on the corner – _Births, Deaths and Marriages, Illinois. _Suddenly she had tunnel vision.

_DEATHS?! SHIT! _she internally yelled.

Meredith tried her best to remain emotionless – although she was internally freaking out. Closing the door, she opened the letter with baited breath, only reading the first line – "As it is the two-hundredth year of the registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, this special letter is to commemorate the birth of Chloe Denise Stepien –"

"Fucking hell David, control yourself!" she muttered. Chloe was the first child of David and Charlene, born two months ago – and this letter had just scared the shit out of her. Meredith threw the letter out the bedroom window in frustration, immediately regretting the decision. Luckily for her, it only landed on the small windowsill outside.

_Shit. _She had forgotten about the crows. They proceeded to swoop and peck at Meredith's hand as she reached outside to grab the letter. As soon as she had it, she closed the window and the curtains, turned off the lights, threw it on the dresser and buried herself in the bedcovers. She wept for what seemed like hours.

"HOW ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO FUCKING RUIN MY DAY?!" she screamed into the pillow.

"Well hello to you too, grumpypants."

Meredith's tear-streaked face shot up. She would recognise that voice anywhere.

"Brian…" she sobbed.  
"Miss me?" he said, a small smile playing on his lips, as he moved onto the bed to hold her close. They remained like that for about ten minutes, before Brian could work out what to say.  
"The crows got you down?"  
"Worse. They actually fucking attacked me."  
"Attacked you?!" he said, looking concerned.  
"Reached out to grab something off the – you know what, it's a long story."  
"No, I want to hear it." He brought his blue eyes to hers. "Please?"  
"Okay…" She recounted the day's events to Brian, who looked intrigued as he listened.

"Wait… so you're saying they attacked your hand when you reached out?"  
"Yeah… why?"

He quickly got up off the bed and opened the curtain. Meredith was stumped, as Brian seemed to be looking for something out the window. The light was beginning to fade as the sun began its descent over the horizon. He jumped a little – seemingly finding what he was looking for.

"Mere, come look at this."  
"I don't fucking want anything to do wi-"  
"Just trust me," he coaxed.  
She was nervous. Brian gave her a reassuring look as he placed his hand into hers and they walked to the window.

"Look over there," he coaxed, as he pointed to a small brown object.  
Her eyes widened. There was a small nest with just two eggs in it, sitting in the corner of the outside windowsill. The two crows were sitting on top of it, nuzzling with their beaks.  
"So they were just protecting their babies…" she said, her voice quavering. She felt very guilty for hating the birds – they were just trying to do their best for their children.

"You know what crows do?" Brian whispered as he turned to her.  
"Stare into our apartment all day with nothing better to do?"  
They both chuckled. It had been a long day for both of them.

Brian said sarcastically, "Nope. Even though they may be gruesome harbingers of death -"  
"Not to mention annoying," she chimed in,  
"And fucking annoying," he agreed, "they're actually one of the few bird species that raise their children together."

She looked to Brian suddenly the revelation hit her. "Wait, so that means-"

"Yep. Crows mate for _life_," he said as he smirked and pulled her in even closer. "I hate to say I told you so."  
"You asshole," Meredith said, smiling. "Now shut up and kiss me."


End file.
